11/10/2004 07:24:00 pm -
Reported by
Shaun Lyon

November 10, 2004 • Posted By Shaun Lyon

Big Finish has posted some new details about forthcoming books and audios late this year and early next. The cover illustrations and cover blurbs for The Game by Darin Henry (starring Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton) is up; the story features a special guest appearance by William Russell (who played Ian Chesterton with William Hartnell back in the 1960's.) Also now available is the cover and blurb for Dreamtime by Simon A. Forward (with Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier.) There's also a cover illustration for the final Paul McGann story of the season, The Next Life, as well as for the forthcoming anthology book Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury and the seventh (and likely final) Doctor Who: Unbound serial A Storm of Angels, which will now be out in December. You'll find all of these covers and information below; click on the thumbnails for a larger version of each.

A few additional notes: the Big Finish site mentions an "unusual addition to the post-production of Her Final Flight, BFÆs subscriber-only release, in the form of a choir! Early versions of the script suggested that scene 9 could be enhanced with four-part unaccompanied chants, but these were cut with the realisation that they would be difficult to record. That was until Julian Harris kindly offered the services of his highly acclaimed choir, the St.JamesÆs Singers, to record the chants for this production. Thanks to the generosity of Julian Harris, the St.JamesÆs Singers, and Bob Burnell (with SNP Productions), the chants were recorded on Wednesday, 6th October. The chants were especially composed by Julian Shortman, and have now been passed on to David Darlington, who will integrate them with his post-production work for the story. As to the specific role the chants have to play in scene 9 of Her Final Flight however, remains to be heard in December!" Also, the latest anthology book Short Trips: 2040 is due out shortly, and one of the stories (by Richard Salter) can be downloaded on the website as a teaser. Finally, the story "Dead Man's Hand" is either off the schedule or has been retitled; now on the "coming soon" list for the Seventh Doctor is a story called Unregenerate!

THE GAME, by Darin Henry

On the planet Cray, it's game time.

The Gora and the Lineen are set to face off in the grudge match to end all grudge matches. The players are limbering up, the commentators are preparing, the fans are daubing themselves in their team's colours. The arena is set, and the kick-off is approaching.

When the Doctor and Nyssa arrive, however, they find that Naxy is a sport that anyone can play - whether they want to or not. Cray's entire future depends on the match's outcome, but the time travellers soon realise that it is anything but just a game.

This story takes place between "Time-Flight" and "The Arc of Infinity".

A city travels the stars, inhabited by stone ghosts. At its heart, an ancient remembrance of Earth. Mythical creatures stalk the streets and alien visitors have come in search of trade. But there is nothing to trade. There is only fear. And death. And the stone ghosts.

For Hex's first trip in the TARDIS, it's about the strangest place he could have imagined. Weird and very far from wonderful. Adjustment to his new life could prove tough. But he will have to adjust and do more, just to stay alive, and Ace will have to be his guide through this lost city of shadows and predatory dreams. And the Doctor is the first to go missing.

Christmas and Doctor Who are inextricably linked. From the moment the Daleks first appeared at yule-tide to the regular Annual under the tree, the spooky cosiness of the season has always chimed with the series's own brand of comfortable thrill.

This collection covers every aspect of Doctor Who at Christmas, from the Fourth Doctor and Romana wisecracking their way through opening their presents to the Seventh Doctor encountering a dangerous something from Christmas past; from the Sixth Doctor running into another Christmas TV institution to the Eighth Doctor's lonely vigil in a frozen landscape. The Fifth Doctor visits an old companion, the First Doctor lands in a house where Christmas doesn't go as planned, while the Second Doctor finds he has to have a serious chat with Santa Claus. And Bernice Summerfield experiences Christmas on the Braxiatel Collection. Unfortunately.

There are hidden links between many of the stories, which are themselves arranged like a symmetrical snowflake. This being Christmas, alongside the tales, there are instructions for building your own Who adventure game, a monster party game (careful how you play it!), poems both nostalgic and jolly including one by accomplished poet Jo Fletcher and four delicious Christmas recipes with a Doctor Who makeover, making this a real stocking-filler of a compendium, the ideal gift for followers of the show, young and old.